Gambling for the Lost Lord's Love: A Historical Regency Romance (Thieves of Desire Book 4) by Ellie St. Clair

Author:Ellie St. Clair [St. Clair, Ellie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Prairie Lily Press
Published: 2022-01-07T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

Wade’s initial thought had been that he should never have allowed this dinner to happen. But now, he was glad.

For it gave him a greater understanding into the woman who was now his wife, to see her and how she interacted with the people she called family.

From the moment they had all walked through the door, they had treated her as though she was a servant, and he realized that they didn’t even know they were doing it – nor did she seem to recognize it. They had walked in and passed her their cloaks. They had assumed she would pour their drinks, had allowed her to fill their plates and attend to their children’s meals. They had assumed that she would look after Mary and Matthew, had dumped Iris into her arms as soon as they had walked in.

And when she had done everything they had expected of her without a word of complaint, Wade realized that this was how it had always been, the role she had been given in the household – to look after everyone else without question.

They all stared at him now, varying looks of shock and surprise on their faces.

“Would you care to explain what you mean by that?” Arie asked, his words careful and measured, and what Wade knew was warning dripping off of them.

But Wade was one of the few people who was not scared of Arie. He had known Arie far too long to be frightened of him.

And while others might be under the assumption that Arie would do whatever it took to get his way, had no limits on the lengths to which he would reach, Wade knew better.

For Wade knew that, deep within, Arie hated himself as much as anyone else did. And that all he did was out of fear of losing it all, of not being able to provide for the people who depended on him.

Not that all of that excused his behaviour or the way he treated others – most especially his sister, the person who was supposed to be the closest to him of any in the world.

“You all expect Diana to drop everything for you. To serve you, to cook for you, to look after your children.”

“Wade,” Diana said softly but sternly as she placed a hand on his arm. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not fine,” he said, shaking his head at her but not brushing her off. “You deserve to be treated just as well as any of them.”

“We all have had our roles to play,” she said softly, and he pressed his lips together.

“It is one thing to look after the household,” he said, as much to her as to everyone else, “but something else entirely to do everyone’s bidding. Tell me, Arie, what has it been like at your house since Diana left?”

Arie looked at him with daggers in his eyes. “I’m not sure how you can be one to judge, Wade, when she is now doing in your home what she did in mine.

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